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Last year, everyone and their mom was doing the Soulja Boy dance! But the 17-year-old Internet phenom's story doesn't end there. After selling over 800,000 copies of his debut album and scoring a Grammy nod, Soulja Boy Tell'em (whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way) still doing his thang and prepping for album #2. Find out how he rose to fame, what he loves watching on YouTube, and more!
How did you come up with your nickname?
My momma gave me the name Soulja Boy when I was young, and I basically just kept it and ran with it. When I started rapping, in every song I'd say, "Soulja Boy Tell 'em" in the beginning of the song and that really just stuck with me. My fans called me that. So basically I just kept that name when I got signed.
Did you ever think that "Crank That" would be so successful?
"Crank That" was just a song that I was fooling around with and recorded. I never would've thought the song could have gotten that big, so I'm happy and blessed that it did what it did.
Who's the most random person that you've seen doing the dance?
I doing the MTV Awards, and this old, old lady (she was like 70) was doing the dance, and it was funny. I saw Denzel Washington do it when we did MTV together. I think a whole prison on an island did my dance -- I saw that on YouTube the other day.
What dance would you not be caught dead doing?
I would never do the Donk Dance. It's basically for a female where you turn around and shake your butt. You won't catch me doing that!
How did it occur to you to put your music on the Internet?
The media wants to make you like something. They put somebody in your face and play their song over and over again until you like it. Where I'm from, nobody wanted to hear what was on TV and radio. The Internet was the last way out. I didn't have no DJ to play my music; we didn't have connections with radio and TV stations. I went to the Internet -- it's 24/7, it's all over the world. Before I got my record deal, I was doing shows overseas. I was a celebrity without being on TV and radio. When I finally did sign a deal, I got to be on TV and radio, and I had the Internet on lock.
What's the funniest thing you've seen on YouTube?
The Britney Spears dude. Chris Crocker. That was funny.
How did you realize that you'd made it?
You realize you've made it once you look at your bank account. Really, it's the success. You look at your album sales, the people your music has reached, your video goes number one. My video is the number one video of 2007, and I won a lot of awards and went number one on Billboard. You just look at the results.
What's the most exciting moment of your career?
The most exciting moment of my career was the first time I saw myself on TV. It was the "Crank That" music video. I was just sitting at home, and Interscope called me and said, "We're going to premiere the video today." I was sitting on the couch and telling everybody, "I'm gonna be on TV!" When it came on, I couldn't explain how it felt. It was the best feeling in the world.
What else do you have in the works?
I'm working in the studio all day so I can keep these hits comin'. I finished four or five tracks. Back to School is the name of the album. I got a shoe line coming out; we're gonna have my clothing line in stores. And we've got this cartoon that we're doing a pilot for called Bad Lil' Homiez. It's gonna be funny. When I did the "Yahhh!" video, I had a little cartoon featured in it. The creator of Robot Chicken came to me and said, "We really want to work with you." So we're coming up with ideas. Hopefully, we'll have that released by next year. There's a lot of different things running through my head right now, and I'm accomplishing each thing day by day. I'm just thinking of ways to get richer and richer with this and, you know, chillin', doin' my thing.
What can we expect from the next album?
I'm gonna switch it up a little. I might do a couple of slow records. I'm still gonna come with a couple dance songs, you know, but I'm gonna try to be more versatile on this album.
Did you finish school?
I graduated and I got my diploma right before I got my deal. It was like perfect timing because I got signed in May, so that whole summer I wouldn't have had anything to do. So basically I was comin' fresh out of school and I just got signed.
If you could have brought any celebrity to your prom who would it be?
Lauren London, Megan Good, and Christina Milian. I would have three dates. It's gonna be all four of us.
Who's your dream collaboration musically?
[i]I'd do a track with Michael Jackson. That's the
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